Cars for Northall

[Job's Modelling]

This entry was published before in my blog on the RM web. But after the kind support of my last entry I would also like to share it here. I’m working on an updated Excel list for my collection of OO gauge cars. When ready I will publish it as a new entry

 

In the summer months I suffer from hay fever, and this gives me eye troubles, so modelling is not good possible Last year I did some research on internet about the amount of cars in the 1950’s. As far as I could find out about 1 on the three families had a car at the end of the 1950’s. I decided that for Northall that means that every diorama with three or more buildings/houses should have a car.

Until now I had concentrated me on the British Railways road vans. Only in Bridge Street and Nice street, which are larger diorama’s, I placed a British Railway van. I wanted to try out the use of a car also in my smaller (A4 size) diorama’s Station Road, Caroline Street and my last one Oval Road.

 

I also spent of lot of time in the research of what models could be used. There is a lot information available on this subject. The period of building, the changes made and the colours the cars were made in for instance. For OO gauge not all information is usable.

 

Because Northall is placed somewhere in Greater London I decided to give the cars also registration numbers that were used in Greater London. For Northall the area code for London North East (Middlesex to 1963) will be used.

 

To create the car numbers, I use the ‘Vintage Car registration’ texture of ModelrailwayScenery.

 

On station road I placed an Austin A30 A2S4 2 door Deluxe, built in 1959 in Chelsea grey with mid blue roof. The registration number: KMD 302. The Car belongs to Harry Wild a reporter of the Northall Gazette.

 

I painted the roof of the car myself.

 

 

For Caroline Street I used an Austin A35 4 door Deluxe, built in 1959 in County Cream. The registration number: KMM 302. The car belongs to Charles Bishop, a commercial traveller who lives on number 3.

 

 

When I put these cars in the diorama’s I noticed that they were very shiny. So I gave both cars a coat of mat varnish.

 

And of course a picture of my favorite British Railways van … a Austin K8

 

 

If anyone has additional information or suggestion, please let my know.

 

Kind regards,

Job

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

The registrations you have allocated are in fact to early for the vehicles concerned. KMD dates from 1938 and KMM dates from 1947. By the 1950's Middlesex were using 'reversed' registrations where the numbers preceded the letters. An appropriate registration for the A30 would be nnn DMY (1954) and for the A35 nnn KMK (1956). Reversed registrations in Middlesex commenced about 1950 because of the high demand for registrations. In fact KMM (reversed) was also issued in 1956.

[Job's Modelling]

The registrations you have allocated are in fact to early for the vehicles concerned. KMD dates from 1938 and KMM dates from 1947. By the 1950's Middlesex were using 'reversed' registrations where the numbers preceded the letters. An appropriate registration for the A30 would be nnn DMY (1954) and for the A35 nnn KMK (1956). Reversed registrations in Middlesex commenced about 1950 because of the high demand for registrations. In fact KMM (reversed) was also issued in 1956.

 

Thanks for that information. 

I used the  "Car registration and number plates 1903-2003" from the Chiltren Vehicle Preservation Group as a reference,

Because I.m not familiar with the British way of car registration I have misinterpreted the information. 

[PhilJ W]

Thanks for that information. 

I used the  "Car registration and number plates 1903-2003" from the Chiltren Vehicle Preservation Group as a reference,

Because I.m not familiar with the British way of car registration I have misinterpreted the information. 

The British car registration system although being quite simple in its function became quite complex as adjustments were made to cope with demand. This demand resulted in changes to the system but these changes were made at different times by different registration authorities, indeed some authorities, rural areas in particular, did not impliment some or all of the changes. An area like Middlesex however where there was a high demand had to institute changes as soon as or not long after they had been authorised. The basic sequence of car registrations before 1962 when year letters were introduced was:- One or two letters and up to four numbers AAnnnn, then an additional letter and up to three numbers AAAnnn. From about 1950 reversed registrations were introduced but not all authorities implimented them and some chose to use three letters and others two letters. I use 'Glass's registration guide 1929-1963' that lists all registrations issued between those years but as that is now over 50 years old copies are hard to find.

[stewartingram]

Just to add a few pedantic points re the A30-A35. (I'm a past owner and still a fan).

Initially produced in 1952, and originally known as the New Austin 7.

Replaced in 1956 by the very similar A35, which at various dates ceased production. The car was replaced in 1959 by the A40 Farina (the 1st true hatchback) and the "real" Issigonis Mini. The Countryman (estate) version lasted until 1962 and the van until 1968.

Now for the differences (externally at least), for modelling purposes.

 

Austin 7/A30 - petrol filler cap on o/s/r wing, moved to rear panel under the bootlid on the A30. Small winged cast badge above radiator grille, omitted on the A30. Chromed grille. rainstrip over side doors which continued over the windscreen. Semaphore trafficators in centre door pillar. Rearlight glasses , though round, were flat in style. Also the bonnet opening handle was a "flying A" but I forget whether that was present on the early version, definitely there on A30 & A35, though differing slightly in length over the years. Rear window was small and a flat pane of glass. Vans and estates had side panels with recessed mouldings on them. I believe the 2-tone colours were only on the very early models, and quite rare.

I should add that the car was available in a 2 door and 4 door version, dates of build varied slightly between them. In addition a van was produced, and with side windows as the Countryman estate version. Also a very rare pickup version, which looked like the car but the cab section only covered the front seat area.

When the A35 was introduced, some changes were made. The rear window was much larger, and curved glass. The rainstrip now went down the windscreen pillars rather than over the top. Trafficators were replaced by flashers, and the glass lenses for these and the rearlights were now more pointed, though still round. The grille became painted instead of chrome, but gained an extra chrome outer "ring". On the van and estate versions, the side panels were now smooth.

Probably the major external differences were the grille & its surround, and the rear window.

 

No criticism intended, just pointing out some subtle points. My 4 door A30 was registered in London in April 1955 as PYN837, and I had it for many years. I did many updates from later models to it, and added optional extras. Originally black, it was resprayed dark blue with a white flash down the side. I did over150k miles in it, and she passed the 250k mileage, all run on a shoestring budget.

 

Stewart

[fodenway]

An excellent reference book on the British motor vehicle registration system is "A History of Motor Vehicle Registration in the United Kingdom", by Les Newall. Although now out of print, it is well worth tracking down through Ebay or specialist book shops. It contains the full story of how and why the system developed as it did, how the letter combinations were allocated, and gives a very full listing of dates of allocation up to the introduction of the suffix letter in 1963-4. Bus company fleetlists can provide information on appropriate marks for later periods up to the present time - and don't forget that a tax disc had to be displayed in the windscreen until very recently! Although the size never altered, the colour and layout of these discs often did, and there is a little book explaining and illustrating this. It's called "Trade and Collect - Tax Discs", by Collecticus Books, P.O. Box 100, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 4TE, first published 2006. Both invaluable aids to realism!

[BernardTPM]

This website is quite handy for tax disc info. I found it useful when trying to date some old 1950s colour slides of my father's.

[fodenway]

A very interesting and useful site, pretty similar in content to the book I mentioned, but free to copy!

[mikeharvey22]

I find this site useful for finding when particular registration plates were first issued.

 

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/registrations/reg-letters.htm